NCAA Football Betting – TCU tries to run the table again in the regular season

The TCU Horned Frogs have taken the next step on the road to national respectability and prominence.

They’ve put together a perfect regular season and made a BCS bowl. Now, can they do it again in 2010?

Oregon State Beavers vs. TCU Horned Frogs

Saturday, September 4th – 7:45 PM ET

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Cowboys Stadium, Arlington, TX

Broadcast: ESPN

NCAAF Odds: Oregon State +13.5, TCU -13.5

Total: 50.5

It’s one of the better matchups of the first weekend of the 2010 regular season. While Boise State and Virginia Tech get due press for their Labor Day showdown, you don’t want to sleep on this game. Sure, Oregon State has a new quarterback, but then again, TCU will be without Jerry Hughes, the pass-rushing stud who wreaked such pronounced havoc for opposing defenses last season.

This is a game that could break in any number of directions, but no matter which way you slice it, there’s a lot of intrigue at the sports palace informally known as “JerryWorld.” The Dallas Cowboy owner is consistently luring big-time college football teams to his sprawling stadium in suburban Dallas.

Last year, BYU and Oklahoma opened up this joint for college football business, and now, the Beavers and Horned Frogs will christen the 2010 campaign.

NCAA Football Betting: What Oregon State Has To Do To Win

It’seasy to say but hard to do for coach Mike Riley’s club. The Beavers must find a way to slow down a TCU offense which returns quarterback Andy Dalton and most of his fleet-footed skill position studs on the perimeter. Oregon State’s secondary is in for a very long day in its head-to-head matchup with the Horned Frogs’ receivers.

It’s up to the Beavers’ front seven to get a sustained forward push against the TCU line and collapse the pocket. Defensive tackle Stephen Paea will need to harass Dalton and cause a few turnovers for Oregon State to keep the game manageable.

Then, if the Beavers can maintain contact with the Frogs, first-year quarterback Ryan Katz – taking over for Sean Canfield – must find a groove and shake off any opening-game jitters. Katz needs to be a big-time field general in this game and get the ball to flanker James Rodgers. If OSU can pass with success, James Rodgers’ younger brother, Jacquizz, can then burst out of the backfield as the Beavers’ star tailback.

NCAA Football Betting: What TCU Has To Do To Win

Because the Horned Frogs have superior talent and the experienced quarterback in this game, they just need to play up to their capabilities and impose their will on Oregon State. TCU suffers in big games not because of deficient strategy or talent, but because the Frogs lose their nerve.

Dalton and his shaky receivers simply crumbled under late-game pressure in the 2010 Fiesta Bowl loss to Boise State. The Frogs didn’t make a misstep during the 2009 regular season, but as soon as they got to the bright lights of a bowl game, they sweated profusely and were knee-knocked all night long.

In this game, TCU simply has to calm down and play the way it knows how to play.

NCAA Football Betting Outlook & Pick

TCU will indeed play a mature, composed game. The Horned Frogs have a pattern of being nervous (beyond normal levels, of course) on major occasions, but this roster has accumulated so much experience that it should handle situations with more poise.

This won’t be a complete rout, but TCU is a substantially better team. Playing not too far from home should help the Horned Frogs as well.

NCAA Football Betting: TCU -13.5